


Twilight: A Story Retold

by MysticalMattie



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Girls Being Nice To Each Other, Humor, Mates, Multi, Supernatural Elements, Twilight is my bubbly happy place, Vampires, Very AU, Werewolves, Witches, but also my angsty crying place, it's a toss up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-28 08:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6322036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticalMattie/pseuds/MysticalMattie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bella is not all she seems to be. When she moves to Forks, something in her unlocks, and she feels as though she's spiraling out of control. With the help of her new friends, she may figure it out...If she doesn't, the consequences will be deadly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_Prologue_

I'd never worried about taking care of myself. I was always too busy making sure the people around me were safe and happy. So now, as I faced death, I didn't mind too much.

My family were all safely tucked away, and once I died, they would be safe for the rest of eternity. After all, it was me she wanted.

"Let's make a deal," She whispered with a sinister smile. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat, and nodded.


	2. Chapter One

_chapter one_

It's warm when I step outside of my home in Phoenix. Despite the white tank top I was wearing over my red bikini top, and my cut offs, I was ridiculously hot. Sweat collected against the back of my neck, running down my back. I gave up trying to wipe it away days ago.

I was used to the heat, of course. You couldn't live in Arizona for seventeen years and not be used to it. It just didn't make it any less miserable.

Today was the last day I would be privileged to the heat, though. Tonight I leave for the airport, where I'll be taking a four-hour flight to Seattle, Washington. From there, a short one hour flight to Port Angeles, where I would be meeting my father, Charlie. We would then make the hour drive to Forks.

It was to Forks that I exiled myself now, the very same little town that my mother escaped with me when I was less than a year old. The town that I spent thirteen miserable summers in until I was fourteen, and insisted Charlie vacation with me in California instead for two weeks.

In Forks, there was hardly a moment without rain. The winters were harsh and icy, and the summers were more miserable than Arizona, because their summers were hot and humid, which was so much worse than hot and dry.

Forks, my own personal hell.

Why do I exile myself, you ask? For the sight I'm currently gazing at.

My mother is wading in the store bought pool that her fiancee, Phil, had bought and put up for us a week ago. Phil is leaning against the outside of it, sweat beaded on his bald head, but he doesn't seem to mind as Mom pushes her float against the water to get to him, kissing him lightly and laughing when the current from the filter pushes her away and his face splashes into the water. He laughs back, and then jumps over the side of the pool and splashes after her, and she shrieks in laughter as he flips her float, submerging her.

Mom met Phil last January, over a year ago. We'd been treated to a baseball game that neither of us were entirely interested in, but were sitting through out of politeness. It was good sitting, really, right next to the field. Phil had been playing that day, his last minor league game. He'd been running to catch the ball, but it had convinentely landed right in my mothers lap. Mom wasn't a baseball scholar, and honestly, has always lacked a little in the common sense department. She'd tossed the ball back to Phil. Phil had blinked in confusion, and then grinned, winking at her, and tossed it back. Mom had blushed deeply, and was dazed the rest of the game. Phil found her after the game, and asked her out to a movie.

Now, my Mom had been on dates before, lots of dates. But I'd never gone. I'd always had a babysitter or was sitting at home by myself. But Phil had seen me, and didn't think twice before saying, "I would love to take you and your daughter to a movie, if you would want to." Mom was so flattered and flustered, I'd accepted for the both of us. That weekend, we saw the new Daniel Radcliffe movie, What If. Phil insisted that he wouldn't mind me sitting with them, but I had insisted that I knew how my mother was with romcoms, and had opted to sit a few rows away from them.

After that, Phil had become a permanent fixture in our lives. He and Mom went out every weekend they could, and sometimes I went too if it was to somewhere like a movie or the one time they went to an amusement park. Every time I gave them their space, though they both insisted multiple times that they really, really wouldn't mind. I insisted that I really, really would mind.

And now, fast forward to Christmas last year. Phil approached me after Thanksgiving and asked me how I would feel about him proposing to my Mom. I'd been a little shocked. For one, I didn't think it mattered how I felt, it was between him and my mom. When I voiced this, he'd shook his head seriously, and told me that I was my Mom's whole world, and that if he were to marry her, that would make him my family. And that if I didn't like the idea, all I had to do was say so. He'd be disappointed, but would understand, and would work extra hard to prove to me that he was worthy of my mom. I thought he was being a little melodramatic, but had given my consent. I thought perhaps too was too soon, but I knew how happy they were. And with him entering major league this coming season, they were putting the wedding off until the year after next, which would be enough time, I figured, for them to either figure a way to make it work, or break it off.

Which brings me to why I'm going to Forks.

I love Phil, he's an amazing guy. But he's leaving next week for training and has offered Mom and I a spot on his bus to go with him. But I can't do that around school. Mom had been all for going, and I'd had to remind her that I was in the middle of my Junior year. She'd been heartbroken. Phil had offered tutors, but we both knew that right now, he didn't have the money. He wouldn't get the big bucks of major league until after his first game. So I came up with Forks as the solution.

Mom had fought against it. Told me I shouldn't have to go and live with mg Dad just because she wanted to go on a training tour with her fiancee. That she would stay right there jn Phoenix with me. I'd put my foot down and told her it would do me good to go and see Charlie. That Charlie and I needed father-daughter bonding time before I became an adult. After a month of arguing with her and Phil about it, I finally broke them. I left tonight, they left next week.

"Bella, come on in the water!" Mom yelled. Phil grinned at me, and then sunk the both of them underwater again. I grinned, and went towards the pool.  
*_*_*_*

"You're sure you have everything? You don't need anything else from your room?" Phil asked, loading my suitcases that he'd helped me buy into the back of his truck. I shook my head.

"I think I'm good."

"All right," He said, coming around the bed of the truck, and then looking towards the house. Mom hadn't come out yet. He turned to me. "I know you're doing this for your Mom and I, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. You know I really wouldn't mind you coming with us, right?"

"I know," I nod. "But I also know that I need to finish school to get into a good college if I'm going to become a doctor. And while traveling would be incredibly fun, I also know that's not ideal for school work. And I think Charlie might feel neglected. It's a lot longer drive from Florida to California." Florida would be where Phil and my Mom would be during the two weeks Charlie and I normally vacationed in California. "Besides, I want to go. I..have a really good feeling about Forks. A really, really good feeling."

Phil smiled, and put his arm over my shoulders. "Do you, now?"

I gave a half smile, and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I really do." It was the only truth about Fork I'd told either of them since I came up with the idea of going.

"I'm ready!" Mom yelled, throwing the front door open and running out, letting it slam shut behind her. I only hoped she remembered to lock it. Phil was already two steps ahead of me, though.

"Let me run in and grab my phone charger," He said, turning to wink at me behind Moms back. As expected, she hadn't locked the door. Phil made sure to when he came back out. I breathed a little easier. I knew Phil would be able to care of my eccentric, hairbrained Mother, and in a way that wouldn't make her feel bad about herself. He was probably the best man for my Mom.

I packed myself into the truck, and in minutes, we were on the freeway to the airport.

I could barely see my mother out the airplane window. She was leaning against the window in the airport, Phil behind her. I knew she couldn't see me, not with the glare and the dark tint of the airplane windows. But she was waving as though she could, and I smiled slightly. She was waving three windows away from mine. Phil pointed me out, though. He'd paid attention to me seating number, and knew more about airplanes than Mom. She turned towards me and though I knew she still couldn't see me, I waved backed.

And then the airplane was in the air and the building my Mom was standing in was a speck among a million other specks and I put earbuds in and a sleeping mask and pretended I was asleep so the old lady beside me wouldn't start talking to me, as she looked ready to.

I slept the entire flight, and was awoken by a flight attendant. She gave me a sympathetic smile when I mumbled 'Mom?', before remembering where I was. She told me now was my last chance to get off the airplane. I hurriedly did so, and had to ask the lady at customer service if I had to get my luggage to be rechecked before boarding my flight to Port Angeles, or if it would be transferred without me. She looked at me like I was crazy, and I felt awkward asking. I'd never flown much before.

After thirty minutes, though, I finally managed to get my awkward, embarrassed self on the smaller plane, still cringing at the encounter with the customer service lady. Instead of three seats per row on this place, it was two, and that seats were far closer than on the other plane. The man beside me smelled awful, as though he'd just come from a morgue. I didn't know how I came to that conclusion, but I did. And as my IPod was now dead, I was forced to listen to him talk about trees and rain the entire flight. I never knew one could name off so many facts about trees and the weather in such a short amount of time, and I would have been glad not knowing that at all.

I was off the plane the moment they allowed me to be, leaving morgue man to himself.

I didn't see Charlie right away. For a moment I thought he had forgotten, then I remembered how excited he seemed that I was coming to live with him, and how he wasn't as forgetful as my Mom. So I wandered over to baggage claim to wait for my luggage, but that was where I found him, heaving the large blue, much too expensive suitcase that Phil had bought off the conveyer belt.

"I could've gotten it," I said, coming up behind him. He jumped, and I smiled slightly. He blinked for a moment, then grinned.

"Hey, Bells," He said, wrapping his arms around me. It was a little awkward to hug him, as I hadn't seen since June last year, and because I had my little carry-on suitcase in my hand, and purse slung over my shoulder. There was a parka thrown over my arm as well. But he didn't seem bothered by my inability to hug him back, and instead took the carry-on from me, insisting to pull it along with the big blue suitcase and the smaller blue one. Mom and I had pooled all out resources in order to buy me a whole winter wardrobe, with a little help from Phil. As Arizona wasn't exactly a winter state, we'd had to order it all online and have it shipped to Charlie's house. The suitcases were filled with books I couldn't let go of, my laptop and chargers, makeup, CDs, and pictures. I knew my room at Charlies was set up only minimally, and if I was going to spend the next two years there, it needed to look like my room in Phoenix as much as possible.

The bigger suitcase wouldn't fit in the trunk of Charlie's cruiser-he was the chief of police in Forks-so the bags went in the backseat. He joked that as long as he didn't have to arrest me, it would be fine. I'd laughed only slightly.

The hour flight from Seattle to Port Angeles was less of a torture that the drive to Forks with Charlie. Neither Charlie nor I were exactly keen on small talk, or any kind of talk. While this would make for excellent living arrangments-We would probably mostly communicate through notes on the fridge or voicemails, compared to Renee, who had to speak every little thing-it made for an awkward ride home. What do you say to the man you're about to live with for the next two years, that you barely know at all?

The drive was made longer by the fact of him being a cop, therefore slowing down traffic. This was the main reason I was hoping to get a job as soon as possible and save up for a car. I couldn't dip into my college savings, so I would be walking to school until I could afford a car. I figured that might be a good opening to talk to Charlie.

"So, uh," I stammered. "Do you know of anywhere around Forks that I could possibly get a job at?"

He grunted a little. "A job?" He said, then hm'd. "Well, the Newtons have an camping and outdoors supply store. Hunting and camping stuff mostly. Mr. Newton died a few years back, and I know they've been struggling to get back on their feet. Miss Newton's been caught up with the fiancials, and that's left poor Mike to unload trucks and stocking and the register all by himself. They've been hiring for I don't know how long. No one wants to take the job. Miss Newton's always been pretty strict, and most of the high school kids are a little frightened of her, I think. But I know it would pay good. Other than that, there's the diner, they always need extra hands. Then there's this bookstore by the bank, but I don't know it they've filled that spot yet. Why the need for a job?"

"Keep me busy," I shrugged. "And I want to buy a car."

Charlie grunted again. "Well, I've kind of already taken care of that."

I turned to him, eyebrows raised. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Renee, when she called to try and talk me out of you coming-"

"She what?"

Charlie rubbed at his head. "Didn't think you knew," He sighed. "Well, when she called, she said something along the lines of how she 'wouldn't have her daughter driving that awful cruiser', and I said that you couldn't anyway, not legally. And she said that you'd need a car of your own with the way my hours are, and that you wouldn't be able to buy one for yourself for months, not without dipping into your college funds. So I said consider it done, and hung up on her. Then I went down to the reserve, you remember, where old Billy Black lives, with Jacob?" At my nod, he continued. "Well, he's in a wheelchair now, and his old truck's been sitting in their garage for I don't know how long. Jacob's fixed it up nicely, gave it a new paint job and completely rebuilt the engine. I had a buddy of mine, a mechanic, take a look at it, just to be sure, and he said that Jacob did a better job that most dealerships. Even offered Jacob a job. I bought it off Billy that day, as a sort of welcoming present for you."

I blinked a few times, then opened my mouth, then closed it again. I couldn't think of a good argument. He'd already slashed through the problem of it not running properly, and my building argument of not being able to afford it. How was I supposed to decline?

"How much?" I asked. He rubbed his head again.

"I've already bought it, Bells," He said. I pinched my lips together. That sounded a lot like 'free' to me.

"I was going to pay you back," I said, pushing. "I know it had to have taken some of your savings."

"Really, Bells, it's no problem," He insisted. "Nothing I won't make back in a couple of months."

I closed my eyes, and sarcastically thought 'more like days'. But I let it go. A free car was a free car, and maybe it would at least get me around until I could buy something better.

But I found upon my arrival at Charlie house, that I loved the beast outside his house. It was an older truck, and rusted even with the paint job Jacob had put on it, which made it look a little funny. But I was in love.

"Dad, this is great," I said. He grinned, as though he knew I'd love it once I saw it. "Thank you."

"Well, now," He said, ducking his head and dragging my bags out of the cruiser. Clearly he wasn't good at the 'feelings' thing, either. That meant less heart to hearts with him than there had been with Renee. Forks was already looking up.

Charlie left me alone after he brought my bags upstairs. He'd changed the old twin sized bed to a full, and the little shelf that used to hold toys was now replaced with a desk. The wardrobe was still in the same corner it had always been, but there was now a large circular mirror in above it. The rocking chair from when I was a baby had disappeared.

Charlie had already put away all my clothes, but I rearranged it a little and hung shirts up in the closet instead of in the drawers. I tried it all on as I did this, and it did all fit, thank God. Afterwards I pinned pictures to the wall above my desk and laid Christmas lights over the headboard of my bed. I stacked books on the desk and CDs on the windowsill. In a matter of an hour or two, my things were completely unpacked, and the suitcases living in the back of my closet.

I sat on the bed, and looked around the room. A sense of disappointed acceptance fell over me, and I thought, _this is my life now._

I laid down, and I cried.

The next day wasn't any less depressing than the one before it, but it also wasn't anymore. Charlie was already gone when I woke up, so I had the house to myself for thirty minutes. I glanced in the mirror above the wardrobe, and decided my hair looked decent, so I didn't bother to shower. Instead I swept the hair to the side and frenchbraided it from the bottom over to the side and let the braid fall against my chest. My mother wore her unruly curls like this often. My heart gave a _thum-twa,_ a slight ache in missing her, which startled me. I'd never heard my heart actually beat before, and it certainly hadn't ever ached in missing someone. I blinked a few times in confusion, then went back to readying myself.

I dotted on eyeliner in a thin line, and then pulled on jeans. I didn't even have to move from my spot to reach into the closet and pull on an emerald green t-shirt. I threw a fake gold colored necklace on, and yanked on brown boots, before trudging down the stairs.

I hadn't looked at the house much last night, having gotten in as late as I did, and then unpacking everything. It wasn't much to look at, though. It hadn't changed a bit since the last time I was here, which was almost three years ago now. Charlie had added pictures from my 8th, 9th, and 10th grades, and there were two spots for the 11th and 12th grade photos too. But the real kicker, was that there were still photos up of him and Renee on their wedding day, and with baby me at the Forks Memorial after I was born. Charlie had always been in love with my Mom, according the Grandma Swan, who was living a little outside of town now in a little house by a lack. He'd never gotten over her, and Grandma Swan didn't think he ever would. I grimaced, and didn't look back at the picture. I didn't want anyone to ever be that hung up on me, to not remarry almost eighteen years after our divorce. It was one of the main reasons I was against marriage.

I went into the kitchen, which was still the same striking, ugly yellow-Renee's attempt at having a little sunshine in Forks, no doubt-and looked through the cabinets, which were all empty except for plates and cups. There was a canister of coffee on the counter, so I made a pot, and then looked into the fridge. Completely bare accept for a little sandwich meat and a gallon of milk, a case of beers, and exactly two and a half bottles of water.

Clearly Charlie hadn't thought about shopping for more than the bare necessities when it was just him here. I'd have to stop by the station after school and get a little cash off him to get some real food.

I found a go cup in the back of the little cabinet above the sink, and rinsed it out before putting the coffee in it. It was more bitter than I was used to, but I adjusted fairly quickly. Which only that to go on until lunch, I drank it sparingly while setting up my laptop. There was a phone line stabled along the floor by the desk, the excess reaching up to it. I clicked my tongue, but made it work. That would be something I would insist upon. Wifi. Even if I had to pay the bill myself.

I would also be going to the bookstore after school. Hopefully they hadn't already filled the position. If they had, I'd settle for the Newtons store. Hopefully that Mike guy wasn't awful.

I still had thirty minutes to get to school, but I figured I'd go on and leave. Who knew how long it would take to get any information I needed squared away.

So I grabbed what was left of my coffee and my purse, and I headed out to the truck. I'd gotten all the way in the cab when I realized I didn't have the key for it, or the house to get back into.

I sighed, and rubbed my forehead, and thank God someone had invented cell phones. I called Charlie.

He didn't pick up, and I figured I'd have to walk to school in the mud and rain on my first day. But lucky for me, as I was sitting then internally hating life, Charlie called back.

"Hey, Bells," He said. "Sorry about that. I was in a meeting. Some hikers found a body in the woods, we're fixin' to head out there and check it out. But I wanted to call you back right quick. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, well, no. I don't have a key to the truck yet, or the house," I said, picking at the peeling leather interior. Charlie swore.

"I've got a spare key to the house above the door for this afternoon, and I'll have a copy made for you after my shift ends. Your truck keys are on the table by the door," He said. "Sorry about that, I meant to tell you last night."

"It's okay, I should've asked," I tell him. "Be careful in the woods."

"Always am," He said. "Love you, Bells."

"Love you, too."

He hung up, and I jumped out of the truck and ran up on the porch. It took me a moment to find the key on doorframe, but I did. It was caked in dust and I had to wipe it off on the jeans before I unlocked the door. My keys were sitting there on the table as promised, and I grabbed them up quickly, locking the door back again before run back to the truck. The rain had picked up.

It wasn't hard to find the school. Like most things in Forks, it was just off the main road, and was announced by the large FORKS HIGH SCHOOL sign. There weren't many people there yet, in fact, the school bus was just leaving to go pick up the few kids that still rode it. I shuddered. I never imagined I'd live in a town that only needed one school bus.

The lady behind the front desk was very helpful, and had already taken care of everything that needed taking care of. She gave me a thick packet and told me everything I needed was in there. I thanked her, taking the packet from her and almost dropping it. She went to grab it at the same time I did, and our hands brushed.

It felt like I was being electrocuted, like that time when I was seven and had been plugging my TV in without Renee knowing and had accidently brushed the metal prongs that weren't all the way in the plug yet. My entire arms vibrated then, and they did the same now, and I got a horrible image of the sweet Miss Cook lying on a bed with her neck ripped out, reaching a hand to me and whispering a word a couldn't make out over and over again.

I yanked my hand back, and the packet fell to the floor.

"Are you okay, dear?" Miss Cook asked. I shook my head, rubbing my arms.

"'m sorry," I mumbled, grabbing the packet. "I-um. I need to go."

"But are you-"

"I'm okay," I said, almost running out the door and back to my truck. Once I was safely in the cab, I threw my purse and packet to the other seat and rubbed my arms, scratching down them and leaving angry red marks.

I couldn't get the image of Miss Cook lying there out of my head, she'd looked so…gruesome, so awful. I willed the image away, but it refused to, and I gripped my arms tighter and banged my head against the steering wheel and I wailed.

It felt like hours later that I stopped screaming, that I picked my head up from the steering wheel. I felt disoriented, like I'd been asleep for a long time. I looked at my arms, and they were perfectly fine, no angry red marks. My head didn't hurt from banging it on the steering wheel, and there weren't any marks from it. There was a low hum around me, and I looked out the windshield, and noticed that the parking lot had filled around me.

I gulped, and grabbed my purse and the packet. I reached into the yellow envelope, and took out the map of the school and my class schedule only. Then I sighed, gripped the handle, and let myself out of the truck. I put the entire matter with Miss Cook from my mind, and the image of her bloodied body faded to the back of my mind. I went to my first period History class, and suffered through.

When making the decision to move form wild and wonderful Phoenix to quaint and quite Forks, I had anticipated a massive culture shock. I'd figured the guys would be more into hunting than becoming models, the girls a little less giggly and more simple. Upon my first hour in Forks High, I quickly learned that teenagers in all parts were teenagers, and while the guys were more outdoorsy and the girls a little less prone to throwing themselves about, it changed nothing in the ego only a seventeen year old boy could have, nor did it change to silliness of the girls, and I was quickly drowning in it.

In Phoenix, I could distance myself from it. I could hide out in the library and read books or put earbuds in and not listen to the simpering of the girls who claimed to be my friends, but secretly dissed me when they thought I wasn't listening, or wasn't around. In Forks, it was another matter altogether.

There was no large school library in Forks, and my IPod hadn't been put on charge last night, therefore it wasn't an option, and I was forced to hear every last little detail about Forks and the kids that we went to school with from a girl named Jessica that had found me in History and had somehow managed to stay attatched to me hip until my Biology class before lunch.

She told me every detail about her friend Lauren's nights and who she had and hadn't been with, and if she had been with someone, that person was generally off limits unless he wasn't good, but if she hadn't been, then they were definitely off limits until she'd determined whether he was good or not. I figured only in a small town could a single girl know how all the guys were in bed and it not be thought weird. Jessica coughed when I said this, and I thought perhaps she was hiding a laugh, because Lauren had been walking in front of us.

I didn't make a friend out of Lauren, and somehow, I figured that was a good thing.

I also learned about Mike Newton and how Jessica Did Not have a crush on him, and I took that to me that she Really Did, and mentally decided to distance myself from him, as somehow, Jessica was already seeming jealous of me and the attention I was getting from being the new girl, and as Jessica was the only one that was talking to me and not staring, I figured I'd keep her. Even if her gossip could get dreadfully dull and boring.

She just started talking about a group of foster kids when I reached my Biology class and the bell rang and she ran off because her French class was on the other end of the school. I shook my head, and went into Biology.

Mr. Banner and I were going to get on just fine, I'd decided, as he didn't introduce me to the class like every other teacher had. Perhaps it was because he was my third teacher that day, and therefore I'd already met everyone in the Junior class in my last two classes, but he didn't, and I was incredibly grateful. He sat me in the only open seat in the back of the class, beside and Edward Cullen. Edward gave me a polite nod and a half smile that made the girl sitting at the lab across the aisle swoon. I just gave him a polite smile back as Mr. Banner started the lab.

Edward didn't talk much. He introduced himself, and I introduced myself, and the only other words spoken between us was about the lab, and I was quite fine with that. Back in Phoenix, my lab partner had been a chatty girl and every less she messed it up because she was more focused on talking to me. I thought I saw Edward smile as I thought of this, but I didn't let myself think about it. It wasn't like he could read my mind or anything.

I thought privately that he was quite handsome, and absentmindedly wondered if this was the 'Eddy' Jessica had been referring to, the 'totally hot and unattainable Eddy who simply won't give me the time of day, and I'm totally over it, totally' Eddy. He was good looking, I thought, and I wondered idly why he hadn't dropped out to become a model. He certainly had a better shot than the three guys that had dropped out in my high school in Phoenix did the week before I left.

Edward coughed, and I gave him a strange look, before going back to the lab in silence, and when the bell rang, Edward and I only gave each other polite nods before going out separate ways, and I decided that he was the only person I would be forced to socialize with that I could tolerate.

At lunch, I didn't immediately spot Jessica, and I felt wave after wave of panic. Where was I supposed to go, without Jessica there? In such a small town, everyone had their groups, and they all sat together at lunch, and there wasn't one completely empty table.

I spent the entire lunch line panicking, and then, blessedly, Jessica came running into the lunch room and glued herself to my side before I was finished paying. She didn't get a tray, and she was talking ninety to nothing.

"OhmyfuckingGodIdidn'tknowEddywouldbeyourlabpartnerholyshitholyshityoudidn'ttellhimwhatIsaiddidyou!?" She hissed in my ear as she led me to a partially empty table. I blinked at her, and handed her my water.

"What the fuck did you just say," I deadpanned. She gulped down the water, and then said, thankfully in a much calmer voice:

"I had no idea Eddy was going to be your lab partner, you didn't say anything about what I said about him, did you?" She said, setting my water on the table and stealing a fry off my tray. Jessica was not a girl prone to personal space and boundaries, I realized.

"I barely spoke two words to him, and they were 'I'm Bella'," I assured her. She sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"Thank God," She said. "But how in the hell could you not talk to him!? I mean, I would've totally blubbered my way through talking to him, but come on! You didn't say one thing?"

"Not really," I shrugged, sinking my nails into my apple, since I had no intentions of eating it. "He was rather unremarkable, if you ask me."

Her mouth dropped, and I smiled slightly.

"Are you serious? He's like, a Calvin Klein model!"

"I didn't say he wasn't," I said. "I said he was unremarkable. And what I mean by that, is that to be remarkable, I feel you should have the model looks, and a brain to match, and that include being able to hold a conversation."

"So by that logic, you're not remarkable?" She said. I raised an eyebrow at her, and her eyes widened. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant, you don't talk much, either. You're very beautiful, I'm incredibly jealous."

I shrugged. "You shouldn't be jealous," I tell her, picking at her curls and making it bounce. "You could be a Victoria Secrets model if you wanted." Jessica blushed pink.

"Don't lie to me, Bella," She said. I smiled.

"I'm not," I tell her. She smiled back at me, and then steam rolled back into Edward.

"But like I was saying, Edward is one of the foster children I was talking about earlier," She said. "His brother Emmett is just as hot as he is, and their sister Alice is tiny, but she got a really subtle beauty, you know? Like she knows she's beautiful, but she won't do much about it. I wouldn't say Victoria Secret, but she could like, a nameless model that dating that famous guy in a rock band, you know?" I nodded. "And then there's the Hales, Rosalie and Jasper. Rosalie really is a Victoria Secret model, she's stunning. I swear to God, if I was closeted and she wasn't with Emmett, I'd be with her in a heart…beat."

Her eyes got really big and she blushed bright pink, looking anywhere but at me. I was confused at first, but then realized she hadn't meant to come out to me. I tapped her shoulder, and she looked at me.

"I won't tell anyone," I tell her. "I swear. If I do, you can tell the whole school that I've got an STD or something equally as awful."

Jessica laughed, and hugged me tightly, and whispered a thank you, but that she wouldn't tell people I had an STD. Maybe that I wore granny panties, but not that I had an STD. I laughed with her, and she went back into a full rant about the Cullens and the Hales.

"But you know what's really weird?" She said.

"What?" I asked around a bite of potatoes. She scoffed at me, and I flicked her.

"Rosalie and Emmett are together. Like, together together. They live under the same roof, and they're together."

I raise my eyebrow up at her, and ask, "So what?"

"Well, it's just weird," She said. "I mean, I know they're not actually related, but it's weird, you know?"

"I don't really think so," I tell her honestly.

"You don't?"

"Well, look at it like this. They're not related, not by blood. They might've been adopted by the same people and probably should had traditionally seen each other as siblings, but they found love in each other, and I think it's kind of nice. The foster system can be horrid, Jessica. Don't you think it's kind of…Poetic? That they were ripped away from their own families, their old lives, and probably tossed around in the foster system for years before being adopted by the same people, and finding each other?"

Jessica looked a little ashamed. "I guess you're right. But it'd be awkward as hell if they broke up."

"I don't think they would," I say. "That's them, isn't it?" I say, nodding to a Victoria Secret model worthy girl, and a large brute of a guy who were wrapped up in each other with heart eyes and gooey smiles. Jessica sighed wistfully.

"Yeah," She said. "That's them."

"And the other two are Jasper and Alice?" Jessica nodded.

"Jasper looks different though," She said, resting her head on her hand as she openly stared. I looked at them too, because it was kind of hard to look away. They were all unearthly beautiful, it almost hurt to look at. "He normally looks like he's in pain. Today… Not so much."

Her voice sounded far away, and I cocked my head to the side as I listened, studying him. He was teasing Rosalie and Emmett, and Alice was laughing beside him. Edward was smirking, and he seemed very carefree, almost angelic. As I thought this, Edward said something that made the other four smirk, and Jasper to look quite embarrassed, and tuck his head towards his chest. I thought for a moment he was looking at me, but I didn't let that thought go anywhere. He wouldn't have been, anyway.

He wasn't built like Edward, who was more lanky than his brother and adoptive brother. Edward was more boyish, and Emmett was large, like a wrestler on steroids. The term all brawn no brain came to mind, but it also didn't seem to entirely fit to Emmett, either, for some reason. Jasper, on the other hand, had a more subtle strength, with rippling muscles under her shirt and blonde hair that was pulled back into a knot at the base of his neck, and a sort of rugged handsomeness. He wasn't the type of handsome that you'd expect from a man in a suit, and he wasn't exactly a model, though he could certainly pass for one. He was like, a rock star, someone who would party his nights away and could get a million girls, but didn't. He had a rugged handsome, and it was striking to me.

Jessica was still talking, but I was no longer listening. I was startled by my sudden attraction to Jasper. I'd never gone for the rugged features and 'bad boy' persona before. For Christ sake, Edward was more my type that anything. Bookish, boyish. But something about Jasper, I didn't know what it was, but I was attracted, and I didn't think it would be going away anytime soon.

"Bella, Bella? Bella," Jessica said, waving her hand in front of my face and then turning my chair to direct my attention away from the Cullens. She had a knowing look to her. "You would look go together," She said. "You and Jasper."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say, going back to sinking my nails in my apple. Jessica scoffed.

"Of course you don't," She said teasingly. "But, and I don't mean this in a mean way, don't get your hopes up. The Cullens and the Hales keep to themselves, they don't talk to anyone much. After they first got here, Edward, Jasper and Alice all turned down every single person in this school that was brave enough to ask them out. They're simply not interested."

I was a little disheartened by that, and maybe a little relieved. If Jasper wasn't interested in dating, I could force the silly attraction that had slammed into me like a train from my mind.

"Their egos are probably explosive," I said, "With those looks."

Jessica laughed, and nodded. "Probably! Not at all bae material."

"Not at all," I agreed, and I forced myself not to look back at the adoptive siblings.

I went by the station after school to see if Charlie could give me grocery money, but one of his deputies told me he was still out in the woods looking for that body. Apparently the hikers hadn't stayed with it and when Charlie got there, the body had been dragged off. Probably by animals, Deputy Mark said. I frowned, and asked if I could go into his office. Mark nodded, and let me in.

Charlie had a picture of me on his desk, from a few years ago, and there was picture of him and Billy Black in a boat as well. I smile, and sat at his desk. I didn't know how Charlie would feel about me looking through his things for any spare cash, but all my money had gone to clothes for up here, and I didn't have any to buy much needed groceries with.

As I expected, Charlie didn't have any cash lying about. I figured I'd just have to play the waiting game, and see if he'd just order a pizza for tonights dinner and then leave some money behind for me tomorrow. In the meantime, I left his office and asked Mark where the bookshop and Newtons was.

"Looking for a job?" The deputy said, nodding. "I wouldn't bother with the bookshop, my brothers son got hired there a few days ago. But Newtons is about five miles down this road, you can't miss it."

I thanked him, and he said 'happy to help' before going back to his computer. Mark was an older man, a little older than Charlie, and very kind. I smiled at him before I left. And he was right, I didn't miss Newtons at all. I went in nervously, and Mike, who I'd met briefly, light up.

"Bella!" He said. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, I was actually here to see if you were still hiring? Char-My dad mentioned you had been, but I didn't know if you still were," I said, picking at my purse. Mike nodded.

"Yeah, we totally are. Thank God, I thought no one was going to apply. Mom's been freaking out about it, and I can't handle all the stocking and stuff myself. Here, let me get my mom, and see what she says."

He ran off before I could reply, and I was left standing awkwardly by the counter he'd just abandoned. Thankfully, he and a lady who must've been his mom came back just a few minutes later.

"Bella, was it?" She said, reaching out her hand. I took it, and nodded. Mike was a ball of energy behind her. "My names Karin. I have to say, I'm very relieved you're here." I didn't know how to reply, so I just smiled. "To be honest, I'd be willing to hire you today, but I can't run a business like that. If you'll fill out this form and leave it with me, I'll contact you in a few days if everything checks out, okay?"

She handed me a form and a pen, and told me I could sit behind the counter unless a customer came up. Mike left me alone while I filled it out, and then took my place by the register when I was through. He pointed me in the direction of his moms office, and I knocked once. She let me in, and took the form, and thanked me several times before I left. I was rather optimistic about it, feeling sure that I would get hired, considering that I was the only person that applied.

Charlie came home late, and by the time he did, I was close to starving. I was laying on the couch when I heard the door open, and I rolled off it and look up at him, watching him take his gun belt off and his boots.

"I'm starving and there's no food," I tell him. He raised his head to look at me sheepishly.

"I knew I was forgetting something," He said. "I'll order a pizza?"

I nodded. "Extra cheese, no peppers."

"Got it."

"And if you'll give me the money, I'll go by the store tomorrow and pick up a few essentials that'll last us until you get paid again. And hopefully Miss Newton will hire me, too."

"So you applied, then?" He asked, dialing already. I nodded, but didn't say anything as he placed his order. "It look promising?" He asked after he hung up.

"Considering I'm the only one that's applied? Of course," I snarked. He chuckled.

"If you come by the station tomorrow after school, I'll give you my credit card," He tells me. "If I'm not there, it'll be under the phone." I nod, and go upstairs to shower while waiting on the pizza to get there.


	3. Chapter Two

The next day was better than I had originally expected. It wasn’t raining when I got up, and I didn’t wake up as early as I had the day before, meaning I had less time to get ready, but I didn’t mind it too much. Less time to get ready meant less time to sulk about the sad reality that was now my life.

I’d gone to bed after scarfing down five pieces of the pizza. I hadn’t eaten since a lunch with Phil and my Mom in Phoenix before we returned home to load up Phil’s truck. Charlie had apologized several times for not having food in the house, and I waved his concerns away. “It’s not as if you had much time to prepare, anyway.” He still looked upset, but let it go. Privately I wondered how he had the mindset to change up my room, but not buy food. But I didn’t voice this.

Charlie was gone again when I woke up, but I figured I could get used to this. Seeing Charlie as little as possible meant I didn’t have to pretend to be happy here as often. I knew it would probably hurt Charlie if he thought I wasn’t happy, and I didn’t want to hurt him. And the way I figured it, I’d eventually learn to be happy here. I just needed to give it time.

I didn’t take me long to get ready, again. I’d put the coffee on before going back upstairs to get dressed, and I made sure last night that my IPod would be charged. But I thought perhaps I wouldn’t need it. I liked Jessica more than I was used to liking giggling girls. She wasn’t as bad as Lauren, and she seemed to have common sense about a lot of things. And she didn’t turn her nose up at me when I said I didn’t care for fashion, like I’d expected. Instead she’d grinned, and said she wished she could not care, too. But she liked clothes too much to not care. I’d laughed.

The day also wasn’t as bad because I knew what to expect out of the day. Jessica would find me sometime, it had only taken her twenty minutes to latch onto me yesterday, and I figured she’d do so quicker today. Then she would stay attatched to me until my Bio class, the first class I had without her. Edward Cullen and I would do our lab silently, and then I’d go to lunch and sit with Jessica, and maybe her other friends, though I still had trouble remembering all their names. Jessica had said I’d probably like Angela. Apparently she came from the Indian reserve that the Blacks lived on, but her they lived too close to Forks for her to attend school there. Instead she went to Forks High, and she was just as reserved as me, Jessica reported to me as we walked from History to Trig. I also thought Mike would sit with us, and that would probably make Jessica happy. With Mike would probably come his friends, and that would probably make Lauren happy. She hadn’t sat with Jessica and I the day before at lunch, probably because she was still mad about the comment I made about her.

After lunch, I’d suffer through Gym, and I’d go to the station and get Charlie’s card, and after going to the store, I’d unload the groceries at home, find places for it all and reorganize Charlie’s cabinents, and then cook an actual dinner.

Happy with that, I got ready, and then remembered to pick up my keys from the table by the door. Charlie had added a key to the house, and another key, which was a key to his office at the station, as reported by a note under my keys. I thought that was nice of him.

The drive to school wasn’t as long, since I knew were to go today instead of being unsure and cautious. I wasn’t as early, and therefore didn’t have the best selection of parking, but I managed. Jessica, as I thought, grabbed my arm before I’d even gotten out of my truck.

“Bella!” She greeted. I thought she might’ve been a little too excited to see me, but I smiled anyway.

“Hey, Jess,” I said.

“I heard from Lauren, who heard from Eric, who heard from Tyler, who heard from Angela, who heard from Mike, that you applied at Mike’s parents store,” She whispered. I nodded slowly, letting myself be pushed back into the cab of my truck. She climbed in after me, and shut the door. Obviously she didn’t care for being overheard.

“Miss Newton is a monster, Bella,” She said very seriously. I laughed, and raised one eyebrow at her.

“You’re joking, right?”

She shook her head. “No! Miss Newton used to be so sweet, but then her husband died, and she like, become completely unlike herself! She was snapping and yelling and she was down right scary! You’d best be careful, you don’t want to make her mad!”

I blinked a few times. “Jessica, her husband had just died.”

“But it wasn’t just grief! I don’t know how I know, but I do, okay?” She said. I looked at her like she’d grown another head, and she sighed in frustration. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, all right, weirdo,” I teased her. “I’m sure if I piss her off she kill me in my sleep.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “Let me out of my truck, dumbass.”

“You’re so abusive,” She whined teasingly, but opened the truck door anyway. I followed her out, and she started prattling on about Mike, and how maybe I could drop hints if I was hired? I said I would, and she squealed. I smiled at her happiness, though I thought Mike didn’t deserve her. I also wonder why she would be so excited about Mike if she was ‘in the closet’, as she’d said, but I figured it wasn’t my business, and didn’t ask.

*_*_*_*

Jessica kept me plenty entertained through my first three classes with any random thing that popped into her mind about anything. Tyler’s drunk flirting with Miss Cook that one time, and this time Lauren and I rode ATVs through the forest and crashed and she broke her leg and they’d gotten in trouble, and oh, did you that Eric likes Angela, but she keeps rejecting him? I was in over my head, but small town gossip seemed more interesting than big city gossip.

She grinned at me when I went into Bio, and then loudly told me to ‘get with that’. I blushed hotly and glared at her, swiping at her head, but she’d already ran down the hallway. I rolled my eyes, and went into the classroom.

If Edward heard, he didn’t let it show. He gave me another polite nod, and I smiled back, and then we both turned to Mr. Banner as he started talking about the lab for that day.

What surprised me, was Edward spoke to me that day.

“How are you?” He asked as we analyzed cells. I was surprised, and didn’t actually respond at first, until he looked at me, one eyebrow raised. I snapped my mind back into focus.

“Good?” I said. He smiled. “You?”

“The same,” He said. I breathed a little easier, and thought that was the end of it. But he wasn’t done. “I heard you applied to the Newtons store.”

I looked at him, my eyebrows furrowed. I didn’t understand how that was his business. “…Yes, I did,” I said finally.

He nodded a few times. “Just be careful.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that,” I mumbled, looking at the cells.

“Maybe because it needs saying,” He replied. I ignored it, as I hadn’t meant for him to hear me. Instead I focused on the lab, and he didn’t say anything else.

Edward gave me another polite nod when the bell rang, and I smiled back before putting away my books. When I looked up again not a minute later, he was already gone. The classroom was still full, but he was gone. I shrugged it off, and started for the lunch room.

Mike found me halfway there, grinning and seeming to ooze happiness. I couldn’t help grinning back at him. “Hey, Bella,” He said. “Mom said I’m not allowed to tell you, but expect her to call this afternoon.” He winked at me, and I grinned even bigger.

“I got the job?”

“I didn’t say that,” He said mysteriously. I scoffed.

“But I got the job,” I said finally. He just grinned, and started talking about a beach trip he was planning in a week or so, depending on the weather. It was as I was pretending to listen that an idea struck me. “Hey,” I said, interrupting him. “Do you know why people are scared of your mom?”

He laughed. “What? No one’s scared of my mom. My mom couldn’t hurt a fly. Why do you ask?”

“Just…Some people seem weird about me applying. Keep telling me to be careful.”

His warm persona suddenly turned cold. “It was Cullen, wasn’t it?”

I blinked, startled by this sudden change. Cold and angry didn’t fit Mike Newton. I thought for a moment about saying yes, because that was the truth. But a voice seemed to whisper in my head to lie, that to tell Mike it was indeed Edward would be dangerous, for me and for him. So I lied.

“No, actually,” I said. “It was just some old friends I ran into down in La Push. Said something about how she got real upset after your dad died. Something about mood swings?”

Mike frowned, and shook his head. “They don’t know what they’re talking about,” He muttered, and stomped off into the rain. I hurried after him.

“Hey, wait up!” I called. He didn’t stop. “Mike, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize it was a sour subject.”

He stopped, and let me catch up. “Yeah, well, it is. And don’t worry, I won’t say anything to her, you can the job. But don’t mention it around her, got it?”

I’d barely nodded before he stormed off again.

*_*_*_*

Jessica grilled me about the confrontation with Mike, and after I’d given her every single little detail, which had included Edward’s interest in my new job, she raised her eyebrows, letting out a low whistle. We were moving slowly in the lunch line, heads bent together. We wouldn’t be able to talk about it after we got to her table; Lauren was sitting there already with another girl, who I figured was Angela. Mike wasn’t there, but two other boys were. I assumed it was the rest of Jessica’s friends.

“Mike’s never like that,” She whispered. “You’d better be careful. He’s real protective of his mom, even more now since his dad died. And he’s always had some beef with the Cullens. I’ve never understood it.   And the Cullens never seemed overly fond of him, either. In fact, I heard from Angela that her mom saw his mom and Mrs. Cullen arguing one time in the flower store. She wouldn’t tell me what about, though. I don’t think she knew. But I wouldn’t get in the middle of all that.”

I nodded a few times, and went to pay for my food, then waited for Jessica. She joined me a second later. “It’s still weird, though.” Jessica nodded in agreement.

“Maybe the Cullens have a deep dark secret that the Newtons know about,” She mused as we made our way towards her table. She was looking at the Cullens. “What if they’re part of the mafia?”

I laughed a little. “I highly doubt that,” I said. She grinned.

“Well, it would make them so much hotter,” She said. “Haven’t you ever dreamed of hot, dirty sex with a hot bad guy?” She whispered, grinning wider when I blushed brightly. “Come on, don’t tell me you didn’t dream about Jasper last night.”

“I’ll have you know, I didn’t,” I said, elbowing her. “And if they’re part of the mafia, then I think that’s a good reason to stay away from ‘em.”

“I suppose,” She hummed. “But it would still make them hotter.”

“They don’t have the look,” I say.

“And what is the look?”

I look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Not Gucci.”

She laughed, loudly, and linked our arms as we got closer to her table, no longer talking about the Cullens.

“Bella, this is Angela, and you know Lauren. That’s Ben and that’s Tyler,” She said, nodding to the two guys, how grinned at me. I smiled back and sipped my water. “Bella here was just telling me about Phoenix, and all the model boyfriends she’s had.”

I rolled my eyes, and nudged Jessica with my shoulder. “Don’t lie.”

Lauren laughed, and it sounded like a pig to me. “I’m not surprised. I’m sure there were much prettier girls for them to go after.”

Jessica gasped, and Angela, who had been quietly observing while looking rather bored, was now interested, looking at me with a raised eyebrow to see my reaction. I didn’t give one. “Lauren!” Jessica hissed. “I’m so sorry, Bella.”

“That’s quite all right, Jessica,” I said, mimicking Lauren’s stuck up tone. Jessica looked quite uncomfortable now, and I felt guilty for being rude to her friend. But I refused to be talked down to like that. “I’m sure Lauren thinks she’s much more their type. Am I right, Lauren?”

“As a matter of fact, you are,” Lauren said, grinning evilly. I gave a more sinister one back.

“Well I do believe you’re right in thinking that,” I said sweetly. “As only stupid and plastic was their type.”

The table was silent, and then Angela started laughing loudly, her head thrown back and drawing attention to herself. Lauren threw me a hateful glare, and I smiled sweetly back. She grabbed up her lunch and stormed away. Jessica put her heads in her hands and Angela slowly stopped laughing, pointing at me.

“You, I like you,” She said, still chuckling. “It’s about time someone put that bitch in her place. Maybe she’ll learn some manners!”

I gave a half smile, and rubbed Jessica’s back. “I’m sorry, Jess.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” She said. “Lauren deserved it.”

“I don’t see why you’re friends with her,” Ben said, scooting down the bench to take Laurens place. “She’s a bitch.”

Jessica shrugged and picked at her milk cartoon. I changed the subject, already thinking about how I was going to drag the story out of her.

“Are you going to the girls choice dance next week, Angela?” I asked. “I know Jessica is,” I said, nudging my sulking friend to try and bring her bubbly self back out. Angela shrugged.

“I had thought about it,” She said. “But I guess I’ll know for sure sometime next week. I might have family obligations. Are you going?”

“I doubt it,” I shrugged. “I’m still getting used to things here, and I don’t really know anyone well enough to ask.”

Jessica perked up at the challenge I’d presented. “Well, there’s Eric, but he’s a little lame,” She said thoughtfully. “There’s Mike’s friend Brandon, he’s on the football team with Mike. But he’s kind of an ass, so I guess not really your type-“

“You’ve drug her type out of her already?” Tyler laughed. Jessica grinned wickedly.

“Yeah, and it’s not you,” She countered. It was a lie, she hadn’t even asked me my taste in boys. But I let her have her moment of getting something back on Tyler, and in minutes they were playfully bickering. Angela caught my attention again.

“I understand,” She said. “But if you do decide to go, I was thinking of just going solo, if I can. You could be my date, if you wanted.”

I smiled. “Sure. I guess let me know if you can?”

“Yeah. And if I can’t, I’ll have one of my friends go with you,” She said. “So I don’t leave you hanging. But I should be able to go, S-my mom is all about high school experiences.”

“Oh, that’ll be so great!” Jessica gushed, turning away from Tyler and leaving him to talk to Ben. “We could go as a threesome!”

Angela snorted, and I tried not to laugh. Jessica huffed at us. “Oh, shut up. It could be fun! What better way to fight the system than turning the whole idea of the dances around, and us girls just go together?”

“Yeah, I’ll be your pimp,” Angela sniggered. “You two get all dolled up and I’ll be your greasy pimp.”

Jessica and I laughed, and then her and Angela were snarking at each other, and I let my eyes wander the room as I picked apart a french fry. My gaze met that of Jasper Hale, who was staring at me without shame as he sibling laughed around him. He had a smirk on his face that chilled my bones and a spike of fear hit me. He was a like a predator that was stalking his prey, and knew that he had them cornered. I shivered, and bit my lip. He winked at me, and I suddenly had to redirect my gaze.

Jessica kicked me, and had a devious grin on her face. Knowing what she was thinking, I rolled my eyes, and excused myself. I dumped my tray, and made my way to the bathroom. Jessica followed me not long after.

“Don’t you dare tell me you didn’t dream about him last night now,” She said, leaning against the sink and reapplying her lipstick. I hurriedly checked the stalls, but no one else was in there. I locked that door.

“Oh, shut up,” I said. “I didn’t. And that’s the truth.”

She hummed, as though she didn’t believe me. “Well, I bet you will tonight,” She said, winking at me in the mirror. I rolled my eyes, and looked away. Her gaze softened after a moment, and she took my hand. “Hey. It’s okay.”

I smiled. She had no idea what was going on in my head right then, but she was insisting on comforting me all the same. “I know. I’m fine.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think you are, but okay,” She said. She shrugged. “Maybe you should ask Jasper to the girls choice dance instead.” I scoffed, and she grinned wickedly.

“As if,” I said. “I don’t have the balls.”

“I bet he wouldn’t turn you down, though,” She said. “You’re sexy as hell. I bet if you swayed your hips and gave him a smirk, he’d be putty in your hands.”

I raised my eyebrows at her, and she started laughing.

“It’s not that far-fetched!” She said. “It could happen.”

“Yeah, maybe with Ben,” I said. “Someone who’s not a gazillion times hotter than me.”

Jessica sighed. “I suppose,” She said. “No offense. He’d probably turn everyone down.”

“Maybe you should ask Alice,” I said. She blushed pink.

“Don’t,” She said softly. I nodded, and she grinned, linking our arms. “Let’s be goddesses that don’t need the Cullens to validate us.” She said. I laughed at her, but walked with her as though we were goddesses.

*_*_*_*

I didn’t see Jessica after gym, and I thought that might’ve been a good thing, as I had a killer headache after having been knocked in the head with a volleyball, and there’s no way I could’ve taken her chatter right then.

I was almost to the safety of my truck when Angela called my name. She looked sympathetic. “Hey,” She said, her voice soft. “I saw what happened in gym. You okay?”

“I’m fine, I just need some Advil,” I waved her concern away. She grabbed at her purse, and pulled out a little pill bottle.

“Here,” She said. I took it, and it was Advil, and I raised my eyebrows up at her. She shrugged. “I get insane headaches. It’s like there’s twelve other voices in my head sometimes.” She chuckled as if this was an inside joke I couldn’t possibly get. I didn’t question it, and instead swallowed two of the pills.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” She said, stuffing the pain killers back in her purse. “Look, I heard about the whole Newtons store thing, and what happened with Mike.” I sighed. Nothing was private in a small town. “But I guess I’m really just shocked that you know people down in La Push.”

I blinked a few times, then nodded slowly. “Well, I guess I technically don’t. My dad is friends with Billy Black, I used to play with his kids when I was little. I haven’t seen them in years, though.”

“So what you told Mike, that was a lie?” She asked. I shrugged, unsure of her interest.

“He seemed ready to bash Edward’s head in,” I said, defending my words. “I didn’t think it wise to say any ill against him.”

Angela nodded a few times. “I guess you did the right thing, then.”

“Why the interest?” I asked boldly. “You think what I said could get anyone down there into so trouble?”

She shook her head. “No, I doubt it. I was just curious. Most of us on the reserve keep to ourselves,” She said, backing away. “I’ll see you later.”

“Wait-“

But she was already gone.

*_*_*_*

“Hey, Mark,” I said, walking into the station. “My dad in?”

“Just missed him,” Mike said sheepishly. “Sorry, Bella. You need in his office?”

“Yeah, but he gave me a key, it’s good,” I said. He nodded, and went back to his computer. I let myself into Charlie’s office, and sat behind his desk again. His card was under the phone, as promised, with a note that said ‘Not over $70, please’. I was just going to get it and leave, but something in the files on his desk caught my eye.

It was about the body the hikers had found in the woods, is what it looked like. The victim had been a Jerry Pilgrim. According to his file, it looked like he’d been prone to drug use, and the death had looked like that was what caused it. In fact, if it wasn’t for the body pulling a disappearing act, that’s probably what it would’ve been written off as. I flipped through the pages. The words ‘drained of blood’ caught my eye, and I read over the paragraph.

His body didn’t have a drop of blood in it. His body had been ripped apart by animals, but it wasn’t a bloody scene as it should’ve been. There wasn’t any blood at the crime scene, and there wasn’t any in or on his body. It looked like the M.E. was still trying to figure out why that was, and Charlie was trying to find the actual crime scene. I shivered, and quickly left his office, and said goodbye to Deputy Mark.

*_*_*_*

After I had unloaded all of the groceries, I played the messages on the machine while putting them away. The first was just someone trying to sell Charlie something, and I deleted it without listening to it. The next was Jessica, telling me to call her ASAP as something So Effing Weird has happened and she had to tell me Right Now. I frowned, but didn’t call her back right away. I didn’t know when Charlie would come home, so I figured I’d wait until after he’d gone to bed less he hear something he shouldn’t.

The next was from Miss Newton about the job. She asked for me to call her back, and I grinned. But the next message caught me off guard.

“Charlie, it’s Billy,” A old, croaky voice said. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I think you should talk to Bella. She seems to be getting mixed up into things she shouldn’t be. I don’t know, maybe it’s none of my business. But I wouldn’t want to see her hurt.”

The message ended, and I frowned at the telephone. What did Billy know about me that I didn’t? I wasn’t mixed up in anything. I’d barely been here 48 hours! All I’d done was go to school and get a job. How in the hell is that ‘getting mixed up into things I shouldn’t’!?

I deleted the message without a thought. I knew if Charlie didn’t bring it up, Billy would think that he’d pissed him off, and not mention it again. I figured that was best for everyone.

Billy didn’t know what he was talking about.

*_*_*_*

I was just pulling out lasagna when Charlie walked in the door. I listened to him toe off his boots and then come into the kitchen.

“Dinner smells great, Bells,” He said, kissing my head and moving towards the stove where the pan was. He went to grab a plate, and found cereal instead. I giggled, and  he looked at me, annoyance on his face but amusement in his eyes.

“All right, you’ve redone the cabinets. Where’s the plates?”

“Up there,” I said, pointing to the cabinet by the fridge. He gave me a look, but got two plates down. He spoons the food onto his plate, and then I do mine, and we sit at his small table. I could tell that he was a little nervous eating my cooking, despite the sweet smell. Renee had always been an adventurous cook. But he let out a noise of appreciation after the first bite.

“This is good, Bella,” He said. I smiled in response. He sipped his beer, and looked at me with a grin. “I heard you got the job.”

“Nothing gets by in this town,” I joke. He chuckles. “Yeah, Ms. Newton called this afternoon. I start this weekend.”

“That’s real nice of her,” Charlie commented around shoveling the food in his mouth. He went for seconds. “Hirin’ you so quickly.”

“I think she’s desperate, to be honest,” I said. He nodded.

“That’s probably got something to do with it, too.” He gulped down the food and took other sip of his beer. I thought about what Edward and Jessica said about the job, and how Mike had reacted when I’d asked him about it. I thought about asking Charlie, but I didn’t know if he would mention it to anyone and it get back to Mike or Karin. I bite my tongue, and didn’t ask.

Charlie went to watch a baseball game after dinner, and I cleaned up the dishes before going up to my room and grabbing my cell phone. I could hear the TV from downstairs, but I didn’t know how into it he would be right now. I looked at the window, debating if that decision was wise or not. But somehow, potential death looked more friendly than Charlie hearing me bad mouthing the good people of Forks.

I heaved the window open, and carefully crawled out onto the roof. I used to do this a lot in Phoenix. Renee was very loud, the TV was always loud, her voice, her music. If I needed to talk to someone, I’d always climb out onto the roof. But this was a little different. Renee’s house hadn’t been two stories, and if I were to fall, I probably wouldn’t break anything. If I were to fall off Charlie’s roof, I’d probably break my entire body.

But the roof wasn’t too slanted, and while it was slippery and wet, it wasn’t too bad. Charlie’s just had his roof replaced, recently, I thought. Maybe a year or so ago. It was more sturdy than I’d expected.

I sat down carefully, and dialed Jessica’s number. It was cool on the roof, cooler than I’d expected, but it wasn’t too bad. I had a jacket on anyway. Jessica answered on the second ring.

“Hello?” She answered hesitantly. I realized I hadn’t given her my cell number. I didn’t even know how she got Charlie’s number. I guess her mom probably had it or something.

“Jess, it’s Bella,” I said, and a flood gate unleashed.

“Bella!” She whispered furiously. “Hang on.” I heard a door close, and her walking, and then ‘Mom I’m going outside’ and an ‘Okay dear’. And then another door closed, and Jessica got back on the line. “Hey. Sorry, I had to get out of the house. I don’t want my parents to know what happened.”

“What did happen?” I asked her just ask quietly as she was talking. She plowed into her story.

She’d been on her way to Port Angeles to get a first look at the dresses before going with Angela and I, that way if she found one she liked she could reserve it and not miss out on looking her best 10. She hadn’t thought about inviting anyone with her, she figured it’d be a short trip and she’d be fine, back in her car before dark. But that hadn’t been the case.

She didn’t know how long he’d been following her. She’d thought she’d seen him around, but it wasn’t like Port Angeles was that much bigger than Forks, she figured she’d just seen him around. But then he’d grabbed her hair and yanked her into an alley. Her immediate reaction was to scream, but his hand had covered her mouth before she could. He’d moved impossibly fast, she didn’t think anyone on the busy street realized she’d suddenly been yanked in a dark and dirty alley.

He’d said she ‘smell amazing’ and that he ‘could barely restrain himself’ and then he’d started sucking at her neck, and she’d started crying and kept trying to get away, but he was too strong. He’d had her pinned between the wall and his body, she couldn’t get away. The awkward angle rendered her legs useless, she couldn’t get any momentum behind her kicks. He had her hands above her head. She remembered begging under his hand ‘please don’t hurt me’, and he kept laughing and saying she ‘wouldn’t feel a thing’ and that ‘maybe she should’.

And she thought that that was it, that she wasn’t going to be able to stop it, that it was the end for her. But then a blur of black and white had grabbed the guys head and yanked him back and had screamed for Jessica to run, and Jessica had, not looking back. She was a block from her car, and she was running for her life, and she was so sure she looked a mess, but no one seemed concerned. She’d gotten to her car, and who was leaning against it? Alice Cullen. She said she was really sorry, and she hadn’t meant too. Her car was barely touching Jessica’s, but Alice was freaking out about it and insisting she wanted to help, and Jessica had been shocked because, uh, since when does Alice talk to people outside her family?  Jessica had waved her concern away and got into her car without another word, but Alice had persisted, asking her if she was all right, that she didn’t look good, but Jessica hadn’t wanted to talk about it. She’d almost ran over Alice in her haste of getting away. She’d cleaned herself up in a gas station on the way back to Forks, and she pretended nothing happened, because she wasn’t sure exactly what had happened.

When she was finished, I didn’t hesitate. “We have to tell the police.”

“No!” Jessica immediately protested. “No, we can’t-I’m fine, nothing happened-“

“Jess, someone was going to rape you, maybe kill you! And who knows what happened to the guy that saved you-?” But Jessica stopped me.

“That’s the weird part, Bella,” Jessica said. “It wasn’t a guy. The memory is a little blurred, but I think-no, I _know_ it wasn’t a guy. In fact…I’m pretty sure Alice saved me.”

I was quite, and so was Jessica. That didn’t make sense. If Jessica couldn’t fight the guy off, Alice surely couldn’t. Alice was shorter than Jessica by a head or two, and she looked more like a pixie than anything else. Her body was tiny, like that of a dancers. She couldn’t have that much body strength, not enough to knock a guy twice her size off of Jessica. And she certainly couldn’t have fought him off on her own, and have had the time to get to Jessica’s car before Jessica herself.

“That doesn’t make sense,” I tell her. She sighed.

“I know,” She whispered.

*_*_*_*

I offered to stay with Jessica that night, but she said it would raise too many questions. I told her I’d sneak over and sneak out and her parents wouldn’t see me, but she told me no, that she’d be fine. I’d tried insisting, but she was firm in the decision. She wanted to be alone. So I resigned  myself to only seeing the girl tomorrow.

I didn’t make sense to me, how she could think Alice was the one that saved her. Alice wouldn’t have saved her. But she was set on it. I’d tried to talk her into seeing reason, but she kept insisting that it had to have been Alice. A blur of black and white-Alice’s skin was incredibly pale and her hair was dark black. The voice that had told her to run had been a females, and then it had been Alice at her car. The more she talked about it, the more she seemed sure it was Alice. She told me she didn’t know how she knew, but she did. I stopped pushing her.

Charlie was gone the next morning again, which was probably a good thing. I might not have been able to stop myself from telling him what had happened to Jessica if he had been. I could respect her wishes, but I really thought she ought to tell someone other than me-Someone who could really help.

The next week was a blur of the same. Jessica acted as though nothing had happened, and wouldn’t give me an opening to bring it up. I knew this was probably her way of coping, but I didn’t think she should not talk about it. But I also didn’t know how victims dealt with that sort of thing. Jessica seemed fine, and nothing actually had happened, so I figured the best course of action was to just leave it alone. Jessica seemed happy that I’d stopped pushing it.

The kicker was, Edward had mentioned Alice running into Jessica two days after the incident. He asked how Jessica was, that Alice was worried. I’d fixed him with a look.

“I don’t see how that’s your business,” I told him. He’d frowned.

“I’m just asking for Alice-She feels guilty about the car thing. And she said Jessica seemed pretty shaken up, and she’s been worried,” He said smoothly, his voice like honey. I thought for a second that he was trying to seduce me into answering, and then I thought it was working, and then I forced my mind to clear.

“I think both you and Alice should just leave it alone,” I hissed at him. “What happened that night is Jessica’s business. Not yours or your sisters.”

“Alice is just-“

“Worried, I get it,” I snapped. He looked frustrated. “And that’s really nice of her. But Jessica is my best friend, and if she says she doesn’t want to talk about it, I’m going to respect that. And that includes not talking to you about it.”

He didn’t say anything after that, and he didn’t give me a polite nod of greeting for the next week.

I’d officially survived in Forks for a little over a week. I hadn’t talked to my mom much, but Phil kept me updated through text. Mom had let her cell die, and had lost her charger. Phil told me he was going to buy her a new on as soon as he found one. I told him to get a few cheap ones, because she’d probably lose another before the week was over. He’d laughed, and agreed. Mom had told us to stop making fun of her.

Jessica was prattling on and on about the dance, and how she couldn’t believe Lauren would go with Mike when she knows Jessica likes Mike, and isn’t that just so rude of her? I’d agreed robotically as I picked apart a roll. Angela wasn’t in school that day. Jessica said she was weird and only came on occasion. Something about ‘family obligations’. I didn’t ask, and Jessica didn’t seem like she knew, anyway. With Angela not there, Ben wasn’t there, and Tyler wasn’t there by extension. Mike was with Lauren on the other side of the cafeteria. Jessica was boiling at the act, stabbing her cardboard tasting fishing furiously.

I was watching the Cullens.

Their heads were bent together over their trays, whispering about something. Alice looked worried and I thought her eyes kept flicking to me and Jessica. I knew Jasper had looked at us, because every time he did, he caught my eye and held my gaze, his molten gold eyes seeming to swim with some emotion I could detect from the other side of the room. He’d look away after a moment.

Rosalie seemed furious, and her fork was currently in her apple. Emmett seemed to be trying to calm her down as she argued with Edward about whatever it was they were discussing. I was immensely curious. The Cullens barely seemed to talk the whole week I’d been there, and yet now they were arguing. It didn’t make sense.

“Bella!” Jessica said, grabbing my arm. I jerked back to reality and looked at her apologetically. She didn’t even try to tease me about staring at the Cullens as she normally would have. Her eyes were wide and she looked frightened. “I need you to walk calmly out of here with me, as quickly as possible, and convince the lady at the front desk to let us leave early.”

I looked at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re my best friend, right?” She said, instead of answering me question. I nodded without hesitation. “Then please do this for me without asking questions.”

I was still confused, but I got up, and waited for her to follow me. Then she grabbed arm and put it over her and almost hid in my side as we walked out. She was shaking, and I was confused.

She wouldn’t let me leave her to talk to Mrs. Cook, and that ended up being a good thing. She saw the state Jessica was in, and let me leave without a problem. She also promised not to mention it to anyone so no rumor were started about Jessica. I thanked her, and took Jessica to my truck and helped her in. She was still shaking.

I didn’t take her to her house, her dad was home. She slid down into the floorboard as we passed it so he couldn’t see her. When we got to my house, she sat on my couch and shook, and didn’t say anything for a long time. I left her alone, and made some tea, and put it into her hands.

“Thank you,” She whispered.

“Want to tell me what the hell is going on?” I asked her. She shook her head, and sipped her tea.

“I don’t know,” She mumbled. “I thought I saw…I thought I saw him.”

For a minute I was confused, and then it dawned on me. “The guy that attacked you?” She nodded. “But I thought you didn’t see his face?”

“I didn’t,” She said. “But I-I thought I heard him. He was saying my name. He said…That he was going to get me.” She started crying. “Why is this happening to me, Bella?”

I shook my head and hugged her tightly as she cried into my shoulder. “I don’t know,” I tell her. “I’m going to call Charlie.”

“No!” Jessica shouted. “Please. Don’t.”

“Why not!?” I yelled. “Jessica, this guy is dangerous! I have to tell my dad, he can _help_ you!”

“No!” She shouted again. “You don’t have to tell him.”

“Why the hell not!?”

“Why did you lie to Mike about what Edward said about Ms. Newton?” Jessica countered. I hesitated. “You told me, Bella! You told me because it was like someone was telling you not to, and you knew you had to trust them. It’s the exact same for me!”

“But what if it’s the guy that attacked you, making you think like that?” I persisted stubbornly. She shook her head.

“No. This voice is sweet, like honey,” She whispered. I thought for a moment about where I heard a voice sounding like honey before, and then I remembered. I had thought Edward’s voice sounded like honey just a few days ago. Suddenly pieces fit together, and I was seriously pissed off.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, getting up.

“No! Bella, wait, don’t lea-“

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, I swear. Lock the door behind me and hide in crawlspace under the stairs if someone tries to come in,” I tell her, and leave before she can guilt me into staying. I fly back to the school, rage fueling my system. My truck groaned in protest at the speed, but I pushed it to keep the pace up.

Classes were transferring when I got back, which would make it easy to find Edward. I was storming through the hallways looking for his bronze hair, when someone stepped in front of me, blocking me, and I ran right into them. Cool hands wrapped around my shoulders, steadying me, and I blinked a few times before taking a step back, and looking at who I’d run into.

It was Jasper.

He looked confused, and concerned, and his hands didn’t leave my shoulders. “Isabella, right?”

“Bella,” I corrected. “Look, I need to-“

“Are you okay?” He interrupted. I glared at him, and he raised one eyebrow.

“No, I’m not okay. I need you find your brother.”

“Which one?” He asked carefully.

“Edward,” I growled out the name. He didn’t look surprised. He almost looked amused.

“And what has my idiotic brother done this time?” He asked.

“That’s none of your business,” I say coolly. “I just need to find him and castrate him.”

That got a bubble of laughter out of him, and I rolled my eyes, and tried to push past him. He let me go, but kept up with me easily. “Seriously, what did he do? I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”

“If only you knew,” I grumbled at him. “Where is he right now?”

“Spanish, or should be,” Jasper shrugged, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. I watched the movement, and for a second I was dazed before I shook my head and stomped off towards Spanish. “Hey, wait-“

But I didn’t answer him. He didn’t follow me.

*_*_*_*

Classes had started by the time I got to Edwards Spanish room. I hesitated outside the room, then yanked the door open.  Mr. Harris blinked at me in confusion. “Miss Swan?”

“Hey, Mr. Harris,” I said, giving him a sweet smile and trying to charm him like Edward had tried to do to me. He blinked a few times. “I need Edward, if you don’t mind. Miss Cook sent me.”

“She...She did?” He asked, rubbing his head. “Well, I suppose- Mr. Cullen, you’re excused.”

Edward looked hesitant, but got up and followed me out anyway. I lead him around the building, and then turned to him with crossed arms. He looked skeptically. “…Yes?”

“Why are you so interested in Jessica?” I asked him slowly, as though I was talking to a child. He frowned.

“I’m not,” He said. “Alice-“

“Didn’t attack Jessica last week in Port Angeles.”

He blinked at me in confusion, then looked quite angry. “Are you accusing me of something!?”

“Maybe I am,” I said coolly. “Would that matter to you?”

“Maybe it would,” He replied just as icily. “Maybe you should think before you accuse.”

I didn’t let my mind wander down the ‘maybe he didn’t’ path. Instead I glared at him and he glared back. “Jessica doesn’t want to talk about it, and I don’t blame her for that. But I swear to God, if you come near her, I’ll have the entire state so far up your ass you won’t be able to see straight. Benefits of being the sheriff’s daughter,” I hissed. He glared down at me, and then turned away, stalking off. I turned away too, and ran back to my truck, leaving as quickly as I’d came and going back to my house. What I found there left me worried and confused.

There was a motorcycle parked outside, and a figure on my front porch, knocking on the door. “Bella!”

“Yes?” I said hesitantly, getting out of the truck. The guy turned, and I blinked. It was Jasper Hale. “What are you doing here- No, how do you know where I live?”

“It’s a small town,” He said carefully. “I was worried about you. You seemed really upset, and when I heard the crying inside…”

“Crying in…Oh my God,” I ran up the porch steps and let myself in, not even thinking about Jasper when I left the door open and rushed to the crawl space where I’d told Jessica to hide. She was there, stuffing herself in the corner and sobbing. “Jessica,” I said softly, reaching out my hand. She flinched. “I’m so sorry I left you. It’s okay. He’s not here. It was just Jasper.”

She slowly crawled towards me, and I hugged her. Jasper was standing uncertainly in the doorway, and I jerked my head towards the kitchen. He wisely went in there without comment and let me stay with Jessica until she had fallen asleep on the couch. I put a blanket over her and then rubbed my head. I touched her hand as I got up, and the same electrocution sensation crawled up my arms and I gasped, eyes widening as I saw Jessica running through the woods, screaming, cradling her stomach, which was bleeding, a lot. “Bella!” She screamed, and I jerked my hand away, and looked down at her. She was still sleeping soundly.

I shook my head, and made my way to the kitchen. Jasper was there, leaning against the counter by the sink, hair in his face and eyes concerned. I got a mug down and started to make tea. “Would you like any?” I asked Jasper. He shook his head slowly.

“No, thank you,” He said. I nodded, and sat down at the table, stirring the tea slowly. Jasper scrapped the chair out loudly and then sat down across from me. He didn’t say anything for a while, leaving my to my thoughts, then, finally, he asked me, “Would you like to talk about it?”

I bit my lip. Jessica didn’t want to talk about it, but everything that had happened in the short time I was in Forks was just weird. The images I’d seen, what Jessica thought she’d seen, it was too weird to handle. And I did want to talk about it, I want to talk and rage and cry and get it all out. Everything with Jessica and the horrific things I’d seen, the ache I felt about missing my mom and how Forks felt like home but didn’t. I wanted to ask questions and get answers, for once.

 

But I didn’t know Jasper. Not like I knew Jessica. I’d only been here a little over a week, but Jessica was more of a friend to me than any of the people I knew in Phoenix. But for some reason, I felt like I could talk to Jasper, and trust him. And so I did.


	4. Chapter Three

“Jessica was attacked last week,” I tell him carefully, slowly, as though the words are having a hard time coming out. “She’d gone to Port Angeles, dress shopping for the dance Sunday night. She was walking back to her car when someone grabbed her and dragged her into an alley. She…tried to fight. But it wasn’t working, and she was about to give up when someone knocked him off of her and told her to run. She didn’t get a good look at her attacker or saviour before she was running away. Then she ran into Alice,” I said. Jasper nodded, and I figured he knew of the encounter with Alice, so I skipped over it. “She won’t talk about it. She’s really shaken up about it. But she’s acting like nothing happened. Then today, during lunch, she just turns to me and asks me to get her out. She wouldn’t tell me why until we got here,” I say, and take a sip of the tea. It burns my throat. “She said she thought she saw him. I asked her how could that be since she told me she hadn’t gotten a good look at him. She told me it wasn’t that she saw him, but heard him. He was telling her he was going to get her.

  
“I told her I was going to call my dad, Chief Swan,” I say. “She wouldn’t let me. She said that she just knew she shouldn't tell. I yelled at her, I asked her why…She said it was for the same reason that I lied to Mike Newton,” I look up at him, and he looked confused, so I explained. “I took the open position at his mothers' store, and Jessica warned me about it and Edward said something about it, too. And so I asked Mike about it, and he freaked out, said ‘It was Cullen, wasn’t it?’ And I lied, I told him it wasn’t, even though it was. And I told Jessica that I had, and why I had.”

  
Jasper looked slightly pained, his eyebrows knitted together. “Why did you lie?”

“I felt like I should,” I tell him honestly. “I felt like someone was telling me to lie because it would be very bad if I didn’t. And I just… Knew I could trust whoever it was, and so I lied. And Jessica said she felt the same way now. That someone was telling her not to tell anyone. And I said ‘What if it’s him, what if he’s getting in your head!?’, and she said she knew it wasn’t. That this voice sounded sweet, sweet like honey. And this is going to sound weird, but, right after Jessica was attacked, Edward asked me about it. He asked me to tell him what happened, and when I wouldn’t…His voice got really low, and he tried to make me tell him what happened…His voice…”

“Sounded like honey,” Jasper murmured. I nodded slowly. “And you think he attacked her.” I nodded again. He sighed. “I…I can assure you Edward did not.”

“How would you know?” I asked him suspiciously. He grimaced.

“It’s….Complicated,” He said slowly, carefully. “But I was with him all that night. He didn’t leave Forks. I promise.”

His voice didn’t drop, his voice didn’t sound like honey, and he was looking me straight in the eye as he said this. I found myself nodding, trusting him, someone I barely know. He gave me a small smile. “Jessica will be okay.” He sounds like he's changing the subject, but I can't find it in me to ask why.

“Maybe,” I said softly. Then I looked up at him. “Do you think I should tell Charlie?”

Jasper leaned back in his chair and sighed. He considered my question for a moment, and then said slowly, “I…I think you should respect Jessica’s wishes.”

“Why?”

He considered this as well, picking up a napkin from the table and slowly beginning to rip it up. I watched him do this while he figured out how to answer me. Only after the entire thing was in shreds did he answer.

“Because it would cause her unnecessary pain,” He said. I looked at him, and he looked sympathetic. “I understand your want for justice for your friend. But if she doesn’t want to talk to the police, you can’t make her. If…If he comes after her again, then I would tell you in a heart beat to do so. But I don’t think he will.”

I looked at him sceptically, but before I could ask any more questions, Jessica groaned in the living room. “Bella?”

“I’m in here,” I called automatically. “Please don’t mention to her that I told you,” I whispered to him. He nodded.

“You have my word.”

Jessica stumbled her way in, and I don’t think she even saw Jasper as she yanked out the third seat and sat down heavily, taking my tea from me and sipping on it. “I feel hungover,” She groaned. I smiled and rubbed her arm.

“You can stay the night,” I tell her as her head slumps onto her arms. Jasper stays quite, probably out of worry of scaring her again. Jessica nods. I assume she’d already decided she would. “Want me to call your mom?”

“Please,” She mumbled. I looked at her, then to Jasper, and got up. I grabbed my phone and played music with it loudly, and then dialled Jessica’s home number.

Mrs Stanley picked up after a minute of it ringing. “Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs Stanley!” I half yelled over the phone. “Oh, hang on-“ I turned the phone down some, but still loud enough that she could hear it. “Sorry,” I giggled.

“Who is this?” She asked, her voice stern and annoyed.

“It’s Bella!” I chirped happily. “I just wanted you to know that Jessica’s spending the night, we’re going dress shopping tomorrow with Angela and we wanted to get a head start. If that’s okay with you, of course.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Mrs Stanley said, sounding much less annoyed and happier. “Does she need any clothes, I could bring some over-“

“No, ma’am,” I said. “Jessica is about my size, so it’ll be okay. Could she spend the night tomorrow, too? It might be late when we get back.”

“Yes, that’s fine. You girls have fun, say hello to Charlie for me,” She said.

“I will! Thank you so much, Mrs Stanley!” I said and hung up.

“My Mom is going to love you,” Jessica said tiredly, sitting up again. She turned towards Jasper and blinked once, twice, and then confusion dawned on her face. “You’re not Bella.”

Jasper just blinked at her, and after a second, I let out a loud laugh. Jessica groaned again and laid her head on the table. Jasper looked at me in bewilderment. “Jess, I’m gonna walk Jasper out, okay?” I say.

“Don’t let the boogeymen bite,” She muttered, then giggled. “But you can let Jasper!”

My face flamed, and Jasper looked just as embarrassed as he got up.

 

“See you later, Jessica,” He said politely. “I hope you feel better.”

Jessica snored in response. He went around the island instead of behind her to follow me out.

“I’d say you could stay later, but my Dad’ll be home soon,” I tell him quietly as I open the front door. He steps out onto the front porch and looks back at me as I lean against the doorframe.

“I understand. You focus on Jessica for now, yeah?” He said with a charming smile. I nodded.

“I just don’t know how to help her,” I whisper. “I don’t know what she needs.”

Jasper considered me for a moment, then said, “I think, right now, she just needs you to be there for her, while she deals with this in her own way. What is it that girls normally do at sleep overs? Ice cream, pizza, movies?”

I smile and almost laugh. “More like browsing the internet while being in the same room.” He chuckles.

“Just be there for her,” He said. “And… If you ever need to talk again, about anything, anytime, you can come to me, okay? I wrote my number on the pad by the phone before you came in there earlier.”

I smile lightly, blushing a little. “That’s really nice of you, Jasper. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“No thanks needed, darlin’,” He said, a devil-may-care smile on his face as he tipped an imaginary hat to me. I giggled, the sound girlish and not at all something I ever expected to come out of my mouth. I felt like Jessica when she was talking about Mike. Hope flowed through me, as I wondered if perhaps he was interested in me, too. “One more thing, though,” He said, and then paused, smile dropping to a frown.

“Yes?” I prompted, leaning towards him a little.

“Watch out for yourself in Port Angeles,” He said. “You and your friends. And if anything happens, you can call me, and I’ll come, okay?”

I didn’t say anything for a moment, confusion clouding my mind, but I nodded slowly. “Okay. Yeah,” I said. He smiled charmingly again and reached out to touch my hand, squeezing my fingers gently.

“I’ll see you Sunday night, Bella,” He said. My heart sunk and all slim hope that he was interested in me flew out the window. Sunday night was girls choice, and Jasper must have been asked…And he must’ve accepted someone else's invitation. 

“See you,” I said meekly. If he noticed my change in attitude, he didn’t say anything and walked back off the porch and I watched him climb onto his motorcycle and speed away.

*_*_*_*

Jessica was in and out when I went back into the kitchen. She acted hungover, and I figured the emotional rollercoaster ride today probably took a lot out of her. I called Charlie to let him know I was ordering a pizza and that I had a friend over for the weekend.

“Chief Swan,” He answered formally.

“Dad? It’s me,” I said, wrapping the cord around my finger as I spoke. I hadn’t thought about how Charlie might feel about me just inviting a friend over. Renee had never cared, but I didn’t know if Charlie may be different.

“Bells?” He said. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I said, looking at his memo board that still had medical exam results from three years ago pinned up. “I was just going to let you know I’d invited Jessica Stanley over for the weekend. We’re going shopping tomorrow in Port Angeles and we’re gonna leave out early to hit up as many stores as we can, so I told her she could just spend the night. We’re gonna pick up Angela Weber on the way, too. If that’s okay with you?”

“Yeah, of course,” He said quickly. “I was gonna tell you tonight, but I’ll go on and tell you now. I’m going down to the reserve for an all weekend fishing trip with Billy and Henry Clearwater. I’d actually be happy for you to have someone around the house with you while I’m gone.”  
For a moment I felt a blind panic. What if Billy mentioned that message he left Charlie that I’d deleted last week? He hadn’t called back so far as I knew, but what if he was just waiting to talk to Charlie about it in person?

I calmed myself down after a moment. Billy hadn’t mentioned anything, to my knowledge, yet, and it had been a little over a week now. He most likely wouldn’t, and especially in front of their other friend, Henry. I couldn’t be sure, but I doubted he would. If he did, and Charlie did bring it up, I’d tell the truth-That I didn’t know what Billy was talking about, as I hadn’t done anything besides go to school and work since I got here. I’d keep Jessica’s secret to myself. Just me, her, and Jasper knew what really happened, and so there was no way for that to get back to Charlie. If he asked me if I deleted Billy’s message, I’d play innocent and say I didn’t even know he’d called, and maybe the message didn’t go through? Charlie wasn’t really tech savvy, and would probably buy that.

I told Charlie to have fun and then hung up. Jessica seemed to be coming out of the stupor she was in, but I could tell she was still tired. I told her I was going to order a pizza, and she mumbled an okay before going back into the living room. A moment later I heard the TV turn on.

I dialled the pizza places number to place my order and looked down as it rang. My eyes caught the neat scrawl of Jasper’s hand on the top page of the pad, as he said he had left his number. I missed the guy answering the phone as I looked over the neat handwriting.

_Jasper Whitlock Hale – 109 4567_

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Someone said on the phone. I jumped and remembered what I was doing.

“Yes, hi, hello,” I mumbled. “Sorry.” I placed my order while thumbing the page that Jasper had written on. I ripped it off right after I hung up with the pizza guy, and put it in my phone. I didn’t want Charlie finding it. Or Jessica for that matter. I threw it away right after.

Jessica and I laid on the couch watching TV until the pizza got here, and then we ate that and went up to my bedroom. I gave her some sleep shorts and a t-shirt and she changed while I got my own pajamas. I raised one eyebrow and went into the bathroom to change. Clearly, Jessica had no boundaries once so ever. She smiled but didn’t tease me like she probably would have normally.

She was curled up under the blankets of my bed when I got back, and I easily slid in on the other side. I thought she was asleep and was working on getting there myself when she spoke.

“Thank you,” She whispered. “For accommodating me.”

“No thanks needed,” I whispered back, and took her hand. She squeezed it tightly.

She was quiet again, and I thought she’d gone to sleep for real that time, but then she spoke again. “Did Jasper kiss you goodnight?” She asked. I blushed, and my heart tha _-twanged_ as I remembered he was going to girls choice with someone else.

“No,” I said quietly.

“Did you want him to?”

“Maybe.”

Jessica didn’t say anything for a moment, and then, sleepily, she said, “Next time, you should just kiss him.”

I didn’t reply, and after a few minutes, her grip on my hand relaxed and I knew she’d fallen asleep. I followed her soon after.

*_*_*_*

  
Jessica woke up before me the next day, and when I woke an hour after her, she was sitting on my couch and eating cold pizza while watching reruns of Zoey 101. She looked at me cheerfully as I blinked at her. “Good morning! There’s still some pizza left over. I already called Angela, who cussed me out for waking her up, but she said she’d go shopping with us anyway. I told her if you weren’t up in an hour I’d get you up and we’d see her in thirty after that. As it is, we still have forty-five minutes.”

“You are way too awake,” I groaned. She laughed.

“Get your perky ass in there and get ready,” She said. I rolled my eyes at her, and she winked, before turning back to the tv and I turned towards the kitchen.

Apparently by ‘ _there’s still some pizza left over_ ’ Jessica meant ‘ _there’s one piece left_ ’, so I put two Pop Tarts in the toaster as I ate the pizza and drank some water, staring out the small window over the sink that looked out over the backyard. It was raining outside, as it had been off and on all week. Forks was constantly raining, it was always wet, very dry. My hair frizzed a lot because of the humidity, but it wasn’t too bad, not as bad as I had been expecting. If it had been I might’ve shaved my head.

It was as I was staring out the window, sulking over my life in the wet hellhole that I thought I saw it-Not thought. Knew. _Knew_ I saw it.

A flash of golden blonde hair. It whipped behind a tree, and then I was positive I saw a hand, a human hand. I blinked, but it was still there. I dropped my pizza in the sink.  
“Hey, Jess?” I called, keeping my voice level. “How quickly can you get ready to go?”

“Five minutes,” She answered promptly. “Why?”

“I want to get a head start,” I lied smoothly. “I haven’t had a reason to go to the dances in Phoenix. I want this one to be worth my while.” Jessica cut the TV off, cackling.

“Trust me, Bella,” She said, feet pounding up the stairs. “It will be.”

I looked hard at the hand on the tree and then turned away from it. When I looked back, it was gone.

*_*_*_*

Angela was still pissed about having been woken up but didn’t complain too much. We were taking her Mustang since my truck was strictly two people. She was also grumbling about that, seeing as she’d wanted to sleep on the way. I’d offered to drive, but she just snapped ‘no’ at me. I had raised an eyebrow at Jessica, who just shook her head.

“You don’t touch Angela’s baby.”

We were in Port Angeles within an hour, and Jessica lead us to a small custom make dress store. “More expensive, yes, but totally worth it,” She’s said. “Perfect place to start.” Angela had just yawned and slumped into a waiting area seat. Jessica had whined, but I distracted her by asking her opinion on a particularly strappy dress that I had no intentions of buying. Angela was clearly exhausted, and the dresses here didn’t really seem her style anyway. I figured this entire thing would be much more enjoyable if she had a chance to wake up more while Jessica and I shopped.

Jessica found a few dresses that she was categorizing in the ‘maybe’ pile; I didn’t find anything. The dresses were all nice, but not really my taste. Dresses, in general, weren’t really my taste, but when forced to wear them, these weren’t what I wanted to wear. Far too frilly. 

The day was well spent, but it was long and tiring. We all found dresses, thank God. I don’t know if I could take Jessica whining about not having the perfect dress any longer. She’d found a bright pink one that made her boobs stand out amazingly. Angela’s dress was literally barely there; It was short and flowy, and strapless. The only tight thing about it was around her boobs to hold it up, and she’d had to get it refitted so it wasn’t too big. She wasn’t exactly all there in the chest department. It looked good on her and made her legs stand out, though. I could only imagine what my mother would say if I’d picked it out. Probably something along the line of ‘fuck no’.

I, on the other hand, had found a black and purple dress. The dress itself was black and came down midthigh on me. It was low in the back, but I’d wear a cardigan past Charlie so he couldn’t say anything. It didn’t show off too much cleavage, which I liked-I wasn’t as confident as Jessica or Angela-and was cinched at the waist with a thin purple ribbon. Jessica had squealed when she’d seen it on me. I’d laughed at her reaction. Angela had looked me up and down, leered at me, laughed, and then told me I was ‘fine as hell’. I’d smiled, and threw away a hundred dollars on it. 

Jessica and I offered to let Angela stay with us, too, but she couldn’t, something about ‘family obligations’. Jess had rolled her eyes, and I just gave her a half smile. 

“I wonder what’s so important,” I wondered to Jessica after we’d gotten back in my truck and headed back to Forks. She looked up from her phone and tilted her head to the side. 

“Huh?”

“Angela,” I clarified. “She’s always got family obligations. I wonder what’s so important.” Jessica shrugged.

“I dunno,” She mumbled. “Around freshman year she started acting really weird and then missed a month of school, and then showed back up acting like nothing had happened. She acted like everyone was crazy when they mentioned her month of absence. And all of a sudden she was really frosty with the Cullens and Mike. But she won’t talk about it, so don’t even try.”

I frowned and didn’t reply. 

 

*_*_*

The next morning Jessica and I didn’t get up until noon, which gave us seven hours to get ready for the dance at seven thirty. Angela would be picking us up sometime after seven and before seven thirty, so Jessica said we needed to be ready before seven because Angela would show up early.  
We sat around for an hour eating breakfast, then Jessica took a shower while I pulled out all the make-up and hair products I had and set it all up in the kitchen, which had the best lighting in the house beside the bathroom, and it would be too hot, and too small, for the both of us. Our dresses were hanging on the back of my closet door.   
Angela texted me at four twenty asking if we were going all out for makeup or subtle. Jessica said subtle, and Angela replied with ‘thank god’. I’d sniggered and got in the shower. 

When I got out, Jessica was poking through my stuff in with her hair still in a towel and only in a bra and shorts. She held up a purple eyeliner pencil and raised one eyebrow. I blushed. “School play when I was eleven. I was a fairy.” She laughed, and sat down, and started on her makeup. I put on a loose t-shirt and started mine.  
We were both done by five thirty, and then started on our hair. Jessica curled her normally straight hair and I straightened my curls before adding subtle waves to it. Jessica pinned her hair back with a small silver crown hair piece, and I left mine plain. By six thirty, we were in our dresses and sitting on the living room couch watching Friends and waiting for Angela to show up.

Angela showed up early, as Jessica said she would, at six fifty-five. We figured it’d be pointless to show up at the school thirty minutes early and went to the only restaurant in Forks to get dinner before going. 

We were by far the most dressed up there, but no one treated us oddly for it. The waitress asked if we were waiting for anyone, and looked a little confused when Angela said we weren’t, but let it go. Jessica was giggling behind her menu. 

And now, at seven thirty-five, Angela was pulling into a parking space towards the front of the school and we all climbed out of her car. There weren’t a ton of people here yet, but Edwards silver Volvo was there, so that meant the Cullens were probably here already. Tyler’s van was also there, and Angela said Ben hadn’t arrived yet, which was odd because he should have been early to set up the photo booth. Jessica rolled her eyes, linked her arms with mine and Angela’s and dragged us towards the school. 

“No boys,” She said sternly. “No Ben, no Mike, no whoever the hell Bella likes.” She grinned at the both of us. “C’mon.”

The gym didn’t look much different than normal, which wasn’t surprising since the school didn’t exactly have a ton of funding. There were blue and white balloons everywhere and a few tables shoved to the sides, and a snack table, but otherwise, it was pretty unimpressive. Jessica didn’t let it disappoint her, though.

“It’ll be more impressive when there are more people here,” She tells me in a reassuring tone. “There’ll be a vibe you just can’t ignore, it’s amazing.”

Angela gives the gym a sniff and then turns towards the table filled with food. “I’m starving.”

“You literally just ate,” I point out, following along behind her. Jessica wanders over to where Coach Clapp is by a black box on the wall, which I assume is what’s controlling the music.

“So?” Angela said, raising one perfectly made up eyebrow at me before going to the snack table. 

Now alone, I look around the room and wander over to the tables, intent on finding one to hide at until Jess or Angela decide to dance or something. 

That’s not what happened. 

As I sat down, I look around the room and caught sight of the Cullens. Rosalie was in a bright red, backless dress that fit her snuggly. Emmett was in a white button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. He was leaning over her as her back was to the wall, and they both had bedroom eyes. My eyes flitted away quickly.   
Alice was in a white dress, her short hair pushed back with a flowery headband. Edward was sitting beside her in a simple suit, and they seemed to be discussing something quietly. 

Jasper wasn’t with them, and I was torn between being disappointed, and relieved. Disappointed because he wasn’t here. Relieved because he wasn’t here with someone else.

“Looking for someone?” A deep, smooth voice asked from beside me, and I jumped, looking up and seeing the man himself smiling down at me. “Mind if I sit?” He asks, finger extended to the chair beside me. I shake my head, mildly stunned. I can’t take my eyes off of him. Jasper looks damn _hot_ in a suit. Not just hot, fucking _sexy_. My thoughts are quickly going to a very bad place, and I absolutely do not care. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, eyebrows high

“Wha,” I blubber. He smirks, and I shake my head slightly. “Sorry. Late night. I’m fine.”

He chuckles, and says, “Of course.” And suddenly, I have the uncomfortable thought that he knows exactly how I was just thinking about him. I shake the thought away. “So, where are your friends?”

“Either changing the music or eating,” I say, spying both Jessica and Angela exactly where I’d left them. The gym is slowly filling around us. 

He chuckles and leans towards me, his elbows on his knees. His eyes flit over me, and my mind is complete mush again. “So, I’m curious about something.”

“Oh?” I squeak out, and he grins at me, all teeth. “What's that?”

“Why you're over here, looking as ravishing as you do, all alone. Don't you have a date?” He seems genuinely interested, but his eyes are also dark, the promise to fulfil the actions that are running through my mind. I'm a literal puddle now. Ravishing? Who talks like that? I can't find it in me to care. Ravishing. Sounds like he wants to eat me. Oh, no... I can't think like that. He's smirking more. I can't shake the feeling that he knows what I'm thinking. 

I open my mouth to answer, and a strangled noise comes out. My face flames and I clear my throat as quietly as possible. “Um, no. Not a date, I just came here with my friends. They didn’t want to ask anyone, and I barely know anyone here, so...They kind of just decided we could go together.” He nodded, pursing his lips as though he could accept that answer. “Who are you here with?” I blurt out before I can stop myself. I blush again, hoping I don’t seem too eager to know the answer.

But it turns out that I won’t be getting an answer, as just as Jasper opens his mouth to answer, Jessica shows up out of nowhere, her hands on my shoulders and an annoyed but playful look on her face. “No boys!” She shouts over the music as it gets louder, pointing her finger at Jaspers face. Neither of us has a chance to reply because Jessica pulls me up and drags me away. Disappointment floods me, almost bringing me to my knees. I look back to where I left Jasper, an apologetic look on my face. He’s shaking his head, smiling. As Jessica drags me closer to the dance floor, I lose sight of him among the many other students in the gym. 

“Jessica!” I scold. “What was that for?”

She laughs at me, spinning around, her hair flying elegantly. “I told you! No boys! Fighting the system and feminism and all that.” With that, she grabbed my hips and grinned at me. “Dance with me, Bella.” I rolled my eyes, but reluctantly put my hands on her sides and dance with her.


End file.
